Grinding-mill and conveyer.



No. 688,849. Patented Dec. I7, IQOL R. GRIFFITHS. .'GRINDING MILL AND GONVEYER.

[Application led Nov. 19, 1900,)

4 Sheets- Sheet l.

4 Sheats--Shent 2.

i 1 i i 1 i i 5 z a i I n i l l i E l i z Patented Dec. .|7, I90I.

(Application filed Nov. 10, w00.)

`m\\ NTW w .......m ETW B GRIFFITHS GRINDING MILL AND BONVEYEH.

(Nu Model) Lwt'vwm M No. 688,849. Patented Dec. I7, ISIDI.

R. GRIFFITHS,

GRINDING'MILL AND CONVEYEB.

` (Application filed Nov. 19, 1900.) (No Modem ttoznav m: mams Psrsns co., worauma, wAsmNsmN. n. c.

' No. 683,849. Patented nec. I7, 490|.

R. GmFmHs.

GRINDING MILL AND CONVEVER.

(Applxcatxon led Nov 19 1900 4 Sheets-Sheet 4.

(No Model.)

wm/Leona@ Vthe subject-matter of Fig. l.

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RICHARD GRIFFITHS, OF READING, KANSAS.

GRINDING-WILL AND CONVEYER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 688,849, dated December 17, 1901.

Application led November 19,1900. Serial No. 37,049. (No model.)

.T0 a/ZZ wiz/0m it may concern.-

Be it known that I, RICHARD GRIrrrrHs, a citizen of the United States, residing at Reading, in the county of Lyon and State of Kansas,have invented anew and useful Grinding- Mill and Conveyer, of which the following is a specication.

My present invention relates to a novel combined grinding-mill and conveyer, and more particularly to grinding-mills of that type which are operated by a sweep, in combination with mechanism for conveying the product of the mill to a distant point where it may be delivered to a wagon or other receptacle.

In the use of sweep-mills of various types employed for grinding cereals,&c., a number of helpers are required for the purpose of removing the iiour, meal, Jac., and for conveying and dumping the same at the desired point.

The primary object of my invention, therefore, is to provide the mill with a conveyer arranged to receive and convey the product and with an elevator located at the end of the conveyer opposite the mill to elevate the contents of the conveyerand effect its deliveryas, for instance, to a wagon.

Another object secondary to that stated is to equip the mill with means for driving the delivering mechanism, comprehending the conveyer and elevator, through the medium of the sweep employed to operate the rotating member of the mill.

To the accomplishment of these objects the invention consists in providing a grindingmill with a conveyer and elevator arranged as stated and geared either to the sweep or to the rotary mill member connected thereto, all as will be more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and defined in the appended claims.

In said drawings, Figure l is a perspective view ofamill equipped with delivering mechanism in accordance with myinvention. Fig. 2 is a sectional view, partly in elevation, of Fig. 3 isan end elevation, partly in section. Fig. 4t is a bottom plan View of the sweep with the driving-wheel of the conveyer attached thereto. Fig. 5 is a perspective view similar to Fig. l,

but showing a slightly-different type of mill equipped with delivering mechanism.. Fig. 6 is a View, similar to Fig. 2, of the subjectmatter of Fig. 5; and Fig. 7 is a detail perspective view illustrating one end of the conveyer and the manner in which the conveyercasing is connected to the platform of the mill.

Referring to the numerals employed to designate corresponding parts throughout the views, l indicates a sweep-mill comprising a stationary grinding member 2, surmounted by a hopper 3 and in operative relation with a movable grinding member or members which it is not deemed necessary to illustrate, for the reason that this type of mill is well known in the art and the specific construction of the grinding mechanism is essential to neither the invention nor to a complete understanding thereof. The stationary member 2 is supported upon legs 4 at a considerable elevation above the mill-frame 5, which latter constitutes a heavy base, insuring the stability of the mill as the latter is operated by the draft-animal through the medium of a sweep 6, secured in any suitable manner to the moving parts of the mill. The base 5 also serves as a support for one end of the conveyer box or casing 7, of any suitable length, within which operates an endless conveyer 8, supported and driven by conveyer-rollers 9 and lO, mounted upon suitable shafts 9a and l0,

-journaled in the sides of the casing 7. Y

At the outerend of the conveyer-casing, opposite the mill, is disposed the lower end of an upwardly-inclined elevator-casingll, supported upon a suitable trestle l2 and Within which operates an endless elevator 13, comprising a belt and a series of buckets, as shown, and supported by the elevator-rollers 14 and l5, mounted upon the shafts lll and 15a, journaled in the side walls of the casing ll. The conveyer and elevatorare so related that the former receives the product of the mill and conveys it to the lower end of the latter, into the buckets of which the ground product is delivered to be elevated to the upper end of the elevator-casing and discharged through a spout 16, disposed at an angle and arranged to project over a Wagon or other depository. The conveyer and elevator are IOO geared together in any suitable manner, but preferably by means of a sprocket-chain 17, passed over sprocket-wheels 18 and 19, keyed or otherwise secured upon the shafts 9 and 15 beyond the casing.

We nowhave two disassociated structuresto wit, a grinding-mill and delivering mechanism-that is to say, they are operatively related, because the conveyer is disposed to receive the deposit from the mill, but are not, so far as the preceding description is concerned, operatively connected. It therefore remains to be described in what manner these two structures are connected for simultaneous actuation by a driving member common to bothto wit, the sweep.

In that type of mill illustrated in the first four figures of the drawings I connect the sweep directly-as, for instance, by lugs 20- to a driving sprocket-wheel 2l, the sweep being also connected, of course, to the rotary grinding member of the mill. The sprocketwheel 2l is geared, as by a sprocket-chain 22, to a comparatively small sprocket-wheel 23, keyed upon the upper end of a short vertical shaft 24, journaled in suitable bearingbrackets 25 and provided upon its lower end with a beveled gear-wheel 26, meshing with a pinion 27, keyed upon one end of the shaft 10 at one end of the conveyer. By means of the gearinglocated, as thus described, between the sweep and the rear conveyer-shaft 1he operation of the former by the draft-animals Will drive the conveyer and elevator for the purpose of conveying, elevating, and delivering the Hour, meal, or other product of the mill.

As shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings, a delivery-board 2S preferably depends from the bottom of the mill and delivers to a hopper 29, located at the rear end of the conveyercasing and above one end of the'conveyer, and, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3, the side Walls of the conveyer-casing are preferably provided with guardstrips 30, preventing the meal from escaping around the sides of the conveyer-belt. It may also be desirable to provide means for regulating the tension of' the elevator-belt, and I therefore journal the shaft 15a in adjustable bearing-brackets 31, designed to be elevated or depressed by adjusting-screws In Figs. 5 and -6 I have illustrated another embodiment of my invention, which differs from that already described in the employment of another well-known type of mill and such variation of gearing as is necessary to impart movement to the delivering mechanism when the sweep is operated to actuate the mill. This form of mill comprehends an exterior rotary grinding-ring 33,connected directly to the sweep and havingits lower edge extended somewhat and formed with a crown gear-wheel 84, meshing with a pinion 35,keyed upon a short horizontal shaft 36, journaled in an upstanding bearing-bracket 37, and provided upon its end opposite the pinion ceases with a sprocket-wheel 3S, geared, as by a sprocket-chain 3.9,to a sprocket-wheel 40 upon the end of the shaft 10a.

It will be observed that the only essential Vdifference between these two forms of my de# vice is that in the one first described, and illustrated in the first four figures ofthe drawings, the conveyer is geared directly to the sweep, while in the embodiment illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6 said conveyeris geared directly to the grinding-ring of the mill,secured to and operated by the sweep. The essential novelty of the invention resides, as will be noted, in equipping a sweep-mill with delivering mechanism driven by the mechanism employed to operate the mill-that is to say, by the sweep connected with the movable mill member and serving for the transmission of power from one or more draft-animals moving in a circular path around the mill.

The speciiic construction of the conveyerrollers 9 and 10 and of the conveyer 8 may be varied between wide limits; but, as illustrated in Fig. 7, I prefer to form the rollers of substantial spool shape and to impart a trough-like cross-sectional contour to the conveyer 8. The bottom 41 of the conveyer is preferably constructed of rubber and the side flanges 42 of heavy canvas or leather, as may be found best suited for the purpose. In this figure I have also illustrated a simple and convenient device for connecting the end of the conveyer-casing to the mill-stand. This device is embodied in a block 43, bolted to the IOO mill-platform 44 and provided with a pair of vertical grooves 45, which receive the ends of the casing-walls.

The operation of my combined mill and delivering mechanism is as follows: One or lnore draft-animals are attached to the outer end of the sweep 6 and traveling in acircular path around the mill cause the rotary grinding member thereof to rotate to effeotually grind the grain, feed, or the like. The ground product escapes from the bottom of the mill in a manner well understood in the art and is deflected by the Adelivery-board 28 into the hopper 29,upstanding from the top of the conveyer-casing. From the hopper 29 the product is delivered to the trough-like conveyerbelt,which,being operated through the movement of the sweep, conveys the our, meal, feed, dac., as-the case may be, to the buckets of the elevator for delivery to the wagon or other depository through the discharge-chute 16, thus saving the labor usually expended in effecting the removal of the product from the mill and its deposit at a distant point and serving, further, to permit the entire apparatus to beIoperated by a single person, whose sole concern will be to manage the draft-ani mals and see that the operation of the mill is continued in the usual manner.

From the foregoing it will be observed that I have produced a simple, durable, and efiicient apparatus combining in a single organi- Zation a mill and delivering mechanism, both IIO Izo'

operated through the medium of an ordinary sweep; but while the construction and arrangement illustrated and described are believed at this time to be preferable I desire to be distinctly understood as reserving to myself the right to effect any and all changes and modifications of dimensions, form, or arrangement which may be suggested by experience, experiment, and expedience, so long as they are embraced fairly within the scope of the protection prayed.

What I claim ism I. The combination with a grinding-mill and its operating-sweep, of an endless conveyer extended under the mill to receive the product thereof, a conveyer-shaft arranged under the mill to drive the conveyer, a short poweiwtransmitting shaft disposed beyond one side of the conveyer, and gearing connecting said short shaft with the conveyer-shaft and sweep, respectively.

2. The combination with a grinding-mill and its operating-sweep, connected to the active mill member to drive the same, of a conveyer extended under the mill to receive the product thereof, a conveyer-shaft arranged to drive the conveyer, a short shaft geared to the conveyer-shaft, sprocket-wheels fixed to the sweep and to the short shaft respectively, and a sprocket-chain connecting said sprocket-wheels, whereby motion imparted to the sweep will be transmitted to the active mill member and to the conveyer shaft through the intermediate gearing.

3. The combination with a grindingmill, an open supporting-frame therefor, and an operating-sweep connected to the mill above the frame, of an endless conveyer disposed wholly below the plane of movement of the sweep and having one end supported within the open frame of the mill and directly under said mill to receive the product thereof, said conveyer being of greater length than the sweep.

4. The combination with a grinding-mill, an open supporting-frame therefor, and an operating-sweep disposed horizontally and connected to the active mill member, at a point above the frame, of an attachment for said mill comprising a horizontal conveyercasing of p greater length than the sweep and having one end extended into and supported by the mill-frame and directly under the mill to receive the product thereof, said casing being provided with a hopper located within the mill-frame, anendless conveyer completely housed within the conveyercasing and disposed to receive the product of the m di? mill from the hopper, and an elevator upstanding from the outer end of the conveyercasing and disposed to receive the material therefrom, said conveyer-casing being extended to a point beyond the outer end of the sweep.

5. The combination with a grinding-mill, an open mill-supporting frame, and a hori`- zontally-disposed sweep connected to the active mill member above said frame, of a horizontal conveyer-casing having one end extended into the open millf`rame, and provided with a hopper disposed directly under the mill, said conveyer-casing being of greater length than the sweep, an endless conveyer within the conveyer-casing and extended under the hopper, a horizontal conveyershaft supportedA by the base of the mill-frame, a vertical shaft geared to said conveyer-shaft, sprocket-wheels connected to the sweep and vertical shafts respectively, a sprocket-chain geared to said sprocket-wheels, and an elevator upstanding from the outer end of the conveyer-casing and extended to a point beL youd the plane of the sweep.

6. A feeding and delivering attachment for `sweep-operated grinding-mills comprising a conveyer-casing provided at one end with a block designed to rest upon the platform of the mill-supporting frame, a hopper extended above the top wall of the conveyer-casing adjacent to the block, an endless conveyer completely housed within the conveyer-casing and extended under the hopper, conveyer-A shafts having bearings in the side walls of the conveyer-casing, gearing connected to one of said shafts for the transmission of motion to the conveyer, an elevator-casing in communication with, and upstanding from, the end of the conveyer-casing opposite the block and provided at its upper end with a delivery-spout, an endless elevator within the elevator-casing and disposed to receive the material from the conveyer, and gearing connecting the conveyer and elevator.

7. The combination with a mill frame and platform, of a recessed block mounted upon the platform, a conveyer-casing havingl the ends of its side walls extended into the recesses in the block, and a conveyer within the casing.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

RICHARD GRlFFITI-IS.

Witnesses:

CHAs. MITCHELL, p STANLEY H. STRATTON.

IOC)

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